A/N: Thanks for all your kind reviews. I hope I've managed to reply to them all. Once again, my sincere apologies for the lateness of my update. I've had a lot on my plate coming up to my final exams. Please continue reading and reviewing, and those who aren't reviewing- shame on you! I need some constructive criticism! Not that standalone compliments aren't appreciated :)
Disclaimer: All characters are property of Tamora Pierce.
Ice Cream
It was amazing how fast Daine was getting used to the presence of Numair and Onua. Onua was the sister she never had, Numair the friend she had always wanted. In many ways it felt as though she was living a dream. She had never considered the possibility that she might actually be happy where she ended up. Not after what had happened to her ma. But these people were putting her at ease.
She wondered whether that was a good thing.
"Daine?" Onua's strained voice made the girl look up. Onua and Numair had been riding in front of the ponies with Daine bringing up the rear to take care of any stragglers.
"Yes'm?"
Onua allowed the ponies to pass, falling into step with Daine. "I'll look after the ponies if you look after tall, dark and annoyingly cheerful. He's giving me a headache. I made the mistake of allowing a scholarly conversation to start."
Daine laughed and rode up to the front. Numair was untying a sack that contained apples for the horses. When he noticed her, he tossed her one and smiled.
"Ah, I see you're both taking turns to ride with me. How flattering".
Daine smirked, "Actually, Onua was getting bored."
Numair feigned a hurt look. "How could anyone get bored of Herne's theories on astrology?"
Daine was about to make a quick retort when her mind lingered on the last word. Her Grandda had tried to teach her about astrology. She toyed with the stalk on her apple. He had taught her a lot of things. Archery, hunting, tracking. And she hadn't been able to help him when he needed it. What use were all those skills if she hadn't been able to save the two people in this world that she had loved.
Sensing something was amiss Numair made an attempt to salvage her mood. "Well I can see that your opinion of me has been sullied. But I can't have you reaching Tortall and still thinking I'm monotonous. So what'll it take to convince you?"
Daine took a moment to work out what 'monotonous' meant. A slow smile formed on Daine's face when she remembered something else her grandda had tried to teach her. She tossed him back the apple he had just thrown her. "That depends…can you juggle?"
As the mage began to demonstrate his answer with many jokes in between Daine was suddenly all too grateful for this boon she had been granted. It was a new beginning. And it was a good thing.
This time when Daine awoke, it was not to the sound of her own heartbeat but the sound of her alarm buzzing noisily from her dresser. Groggily, she pulled herself from out of bed and turned it off. She had put it far from her bed to avoid the temptation of pressing the snooze button a zillion times, which she was liable to do. But, she realised with a growing sense of dread, that she would not have been able to do so today anyway. She had overslept and had to be at work in twenty minutes. That ruled out the possibility of any kind of breakfast but she managed to take a quick shower and scribble quickly in her journal before heading out.
The fact that Numair Salmalin or Arram Draper bore an uncanny resemblance to Adam Draper was not lost on Daine. Never before had her real life had any bearing on her 'dream life' as Daine Sarrasri, but somehow Adam must have made some kind of an impact on her sub consciousness. Also, the feelings she had begun to experience in her dream, warm friendly feelings towards Numair seemed to have carried over to the waking world. She found herself seriously regretting not having taken Adam's number.
These dreams were really starting to disturb her.
She made it to work just in time, enough to get a slightly disapproving glance from her boss but nothing else. Taking care of her morning duties, and bringing out the animals that were meant to be on display today she barely noticed that Kali had come in late. The younger girl came up behind Daine and startled her. "And how's our employee of the month?" The girl asked chirpily.
Daine grunted and pushed a brown curl out of her face, not for the first time wishing she had Kali's blond locks. Sunlight just seemed to bounce off of them and where had this boiling whether come from anyway? "Hot and tired already. And I'm only employee of the month for two more days."
Kali nodded, taking her place behind the cash register. "Yup. That may be true but you're sure to be again. You work harder than any of us." Kali had been a close friend of Daine's for the last six months. Despite working with Daine, they had been raised in extremely different environments. Kali's parents were owners of a quickly expanding international company. Kali had gotten a Ferrari for her seventeenth birthday and fully paid college tuition for her eighteenth. Had it not been for Kali's parents' belated decision that their daughter needed some first hand experience in the real working world then Daine and Kali would have probably never met.
As it was, Daine was glad that they had. Out of all her friends Kali, although slightly younger was the most sensitive and caring. Despite her sometimes present frivolity she also possessed an emotional maturity that Daine had found herself drawn to. It was seldom that Daine had a problem that Kali didn't have the answer to. Considering this now, Daine decided to seek her advice on her recent problem.
"Kali," Daine began.
The blond had been cleaning out a rabbit cage but came over to sit beside Daine, noticing the serious tone that had entered her friend's voice. "What's up?"
"It's the dreams, they've- been giving me trouble lately."
Kali scrubbed her hands with a tissue before regarding her intently, dark eyes wide. "What kind of trouble?"
"Yesterday, her mother died."
"Her mother? Whose?"
"Daine Sarrasri's."
"They're still following a linear timeline?" At Daine's nod, Kali considered for a moment. "Daine, this is really weird. I'm worried about you. Maybe you should see-"
Daine winced. "Don't! Please don't say it." She told Kali about Sarra's death and about Veralidaine going insane. There was a weighty silence. In retrospect Daine knew how odd this situation would seem to an outsider. For her, it had become something of a normalcy. But she trusted Kali's judgement.
"Is that everything?" Kali said finally.
They were interrupted by a customer, after which Kali was called by a senior member of staff concerning her paid leave for the year. By the time they finally got back to their conversation Daine had had time to plan out how she was going to explain. "It's not just that. It feels as though something's changing, or something's about to change. So far the dreams have been so detached, like a fantasy novel. But yesterday-" Daine began telling her about her encounter with Adam Draper, but when Kali began to giggle Daine was forced to stop.
"So, you jumped on this guy that was about a decade older than you then went out with him?"
Daine blushed scarlet. "What? No! It wasn't like that. He was trying to repay me for the coffee I spilled."
Selling a customer some goldfish food, Kali continued her teasing. "Oh I see. So when are you seeing him next? You bringing him to Cassie's party?"
Daine had been cleaning the counter but found a better use for the towel in her hand and threw it at the younger girl's face. "Grow up."
Kali stuck her tongue out. "You first"
Chuckling, Daine went into the back to do some inventory as her rotor suggested. Suddenly she didn't feel like telling Kali that Adam had entered her little 'dream world'. It would probably only give her more ammunition to tease her with anyway.
Daine rolled up her sleeves, the day was already unusually hot but the back room was stifling. Starting the task at hand she found herself wandering again. If Adam was a real person then perhaps Onua, her 'ma' and grandda were real people too. People who she had had chance meetings with and quickly forgotten. The 'Dorothy Gale syndrome' they would call it. And you were there, and you were there and you were there. Laughing at her whimsy, she settled down to work.
Ten minutes in and she was interrupted, the door swung open and Kali spotted her behind a couple of boxes.
"Daine!"
"Kali, I already told you. It was nothing. Just coffee. Which by the way we didn't even have. Why are you looking at me that way?"
Kali smiled sweetly. "This Adam Draper. He wasn't drop-dead gorgeous was he?"
Daine crossed her arms defensively. "Why d'you-"
"Tall, dark hair, intense eyes, nice body?"
Daine frowned. "How did you-"
"He's standing outside. At the counter." Kali grinned. Before Daine could get a word out she was forcibly pulled to her feet and almost shoved out of the store room.
Adam was not at the desk however, as Kali had said, but was peeking through one of the cages, at a tortoise. Immediately, Daine was struck by how much he looked like Numair. Or maybe it's the other way around. Daine amended silently. In any case her dream seemed to have captured details about him that even she hadn't noticed the first time they'd met; his stance, posture, the way he tugged his nose while thinking.
"Adam?" She called.
The man turned around smiling. All thoughts that he was there by coincidence were erased from her head. And she was surprised at the wave of pleasure she felt at the prospect that he was there to see her. Well, we have been friends for a couple of days. Or at least Veralidaine and Numair have. This was getting confusing.
"Daine." He said by way of greeting. His voice came out slightly shy, as if unsure of himself. "I was nearby and wondered whether you wanted to get that coffee I owe you?"
Daine did not hesitate. She smiled, "I have a lunch break in half an hour. Can you wait?"
He nodded. "Sure. I'll come back" He nodded politely to Kali then left.
"And what was that?" Kali asked shrewdly.
"What?" Daine held up a hand, "actually never mind; I don't want to know."
Kali stopped her with a hand on her arm. "Daine…all jokes aside. I'm worried. Don't go." Daine realised she was serious.
"Kali, whatever you think's gonna happen – don't worry. He really is just a nice guy."
"I'm not so sure" the younger woman replied caustically.
Daine didn't know how to reply to this so she just went back to work. Now where had that come from? She wondered. Kali was not the kind of person to make rash judgements about people. It made Daine wonder whether she should just make an excuse not to go. But no, a strong part of her wanted to. The same part of her that wanted an answer as to why she had been having these obtrusive dreams.
Thirty minutes passed in a flash and soon Daine was following Adam out of the store and onto the sidewalk. Brushing a stray curl out of her flushed face she found herself lamenting the humidity again. She frowned, walking alongside the tall man. "Maybe this isn't such a good idea."
Adam looked at her, startled. "Daine-with this- I didn't mean…I just wanted to get to know you better. As a friend- I- well you can go back if you-" He trailed off at the sound of her laughter and smiled, seemingly despite himself.
"I meant coffee, Adam. I was about to say the weather's a little hot for it." Somehow it put her at ease to know that he had been having some of the same doubts that she had.
Adam chuckled. "OK, let's just forget that I stumbled all over myself there."
She grinned. Although his words had relieved her in one way, she was not done teasing him yet. "Oh but how could I? It was really cute."
Recovering fast he admitted "Well, I suppose it was an excellent ice breaker" he paused. "Not coffee?"
She wrinkled her nose. "No. Ice cream?"
"Lead the way."
They went to the local Haägen Dazs café and she found herself stuck between ordering the strawberry cheesecake which she adored and the Belgian chocolate which looked sinfully delicious. After a moment she got the strawberry cheesecake and stepped out of the queue. Adam joined her later with a scoop of the Belgian chocolate.
"I thought we could share." He told her, holding out two spoons.
She beamed at him. "Good thinking"
"So," He said as they began walking, Daine taking hearty bites out of her ice cream. "What time do you have to be back at work?"
"Forty-five minutes" she replied, after checking her watch. She regarded him quizzically, "Shouldn't you be at work?"
He grinned, "There was something of a coup détat yesterday which ended with my boss's nephew being put in charge of our R and D department."
Daine smiled, Adam didn't seem too broken up about it. She remembered what he had said yesterday. "So the Emperor got dethroned?"
For some reason, Adam stopped walking and stared at her for a moment, frowning. When she realised, she stopped too and looked back at him. "What?"
Adam opened his mouth to say something but was cut off as a loud motorcycle ripped past, gusts of wind blowing in its wake. The sudden commotion had made Daine jump. And drop her ice cream. "Damn." She hated those things.
She looked back at Adam but the strange expression she had momentarily seen on his face had vanished. He was smiling again "New York, eh?"
She grimaced, peeling a flyer off her trouser leg, "Tell me about it."
Glancing briefly at the advertisement she noticed it was for a fun fair at the docks the coming weekend. She sighed wistfully; she had loved things like that growing up. Before the split her dad had been especially indulgent, taking her on all the best rides and buying her candy floss. Now that seemed a thing of the past.
Having been distracted by the flyer, Daine had not noticed Adam coming up behind her to read over her shoulder. Now she got a whiff of a musky scent which was strangely familiar. She looked up to catch a glimpse of him retying his hair. The image struck a chord in Daine's memory, giving her a sense of déjà vous. She moved away feeling strange all of a sudden. Adam seemed not to notice her discomfort.
He handed her his ice cream and took the flyer. "A Funfair at the docks?" he read. He misinterpreted her expression. "You want to go?"
"Yeah, sounds like fun." She said slowly, still feeling an intangible itch in the back of her head. Coming out of it, she shook herself. "But you don't have to- I mean, wont you have work?"
They began walking again. "Not necessarily. My new boss is somewhat more lenient. And I suspect he'll need time to restructure before I can commence my work on some of the more delicate projects again."
"Must be nice." She remarked. "My boss is a hag. Two minutes late and you get yelled at."
He chuckled. They continued like this for a while, talking about inconsequential things until they were both so much more at ease in each others presence that Daine almost forgot that weird sense of recognition that she had felt earlier. When her lunch break was nearly up, he walked her back to the store.
She smiled at him. "Thanks for the ice cream." She had eaten the Belgian chocolate when hers had ended up on the floor.
"No problem." He hesitated, wondering if he should mention the fair again.
"Oh, wait here a minute."
He nodded and she ran into the shop for a minute. He watched as she briefly conversed with her blond friend. Daine was shaking her head adamantly; it was obvious the two did not agree on something. Then Daine wrote something down and came back outside.
She handed him the piece of paper. The last half an hour with Adam had been great. It had convinced her that they could just be friends despite the age difference and the fact that they had met under extremely odd circumstances. "My cell phone number." She explained. "I barely use my landline. I really want to go to the docks on the weekend. If you want to go, give me a call."
He smiled shyly. "Will do. It was great talking to you again Daine."
"You too, Adam." She said to his retreating form.